1912 Democratic National Convention
Encyclopedia
The 1912 Democratic National Convention was held at the Fifth Regiment Armory
in Baltimore from June 25 to July 2, 1912. It proved to be one of the more memorable United States presidential conventions of the twentieth century. The main candidates were House Speaker
Champ Clark of Missouri
and Governor
Woodrow Wilson
of New Jersey
. Both Clark and Wilson had won a number of primaries, and Clark entered the convention with more pledged delegates than did Wilson. However, he lacked the two thirds vote necessary to secure the nomination.
Initially, the front runner appeared to be Clark, who received 440¼ votes on the first ballot to 324 for Wilson. Governor Judson Harmon
of Ohio
received 148 votes while U.S. Representative Oscar W. Underwood of Alabama
, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, received 117¼ with the rest of the votes scattered among the other delegates. No candidate managed to gain a majority until the ninth ballot, when the New York
delegation shifted its allegiance to Clark. Due to the then-official two-thirds rule used by the Democratic Party, Clark was never able to secure the nomination as he failed to get the necessary two-thirds vote for victory.
In past conventions, once a candidate received a majority of the votes, it would start a bandwagon rolling to the nomination. Clark's chances were hurt when Tammany Hall
, the powerful and corrupt Democratic political machine in New York City
, threw its support behind him. This was the move that gave Clark a majority on the ninth ballot, but instead of propelling Clark's bandwagon towards victory, the endorsement led William Jennings Bryan
to turn against the Speaker of the House. A three-time Democratic presidential candidate and still the leader of the party's liberals, Bryan delivered a speech denouncing Clark as the candidate of "Wall Street
".
Up until the Tammany endorsement, Bryan had remained neutral, but once the corrupt machine put itself behind Clark, he threw his support to New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson, who was regarded as a moderate reformer. Wilson had consistently finished second to Clark on each ballot, Ironically, Wilson had nearly given up hope that he could be nominated, and he was on the verge of having a concession speech read for him at the convention freeing his delegates to vote for someone else. Bryan's endorsement of Wilson influenced many other delegates, and Wilson gradually gained in strength while Clark's support dwindled. Wilson received the nomination on the 46th ballot.
The 46 ballots were the most cast at a convention since 1860.
Thomas R. Marshall
, the Governor of Indiana
, who had swung his state's delegate votes to Wilson in later ballots, was named as Wilson's running mate. Wilson and Marshall went on to win a landslide victory in the 1912 Presidential election
against a split Republican Party
.
Fifth Regiment Armory
Fifth Regiment Armory is a historic National Guard armory located at Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is an imposing, fortress-type structure situated in midtown Baltimore...
in Baltimore from June 25 to July 2, 1912. It proved to be one of the more memorable United States presidential conventions of the twentieth century. The main candidates were House Speaker
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
Champ Clark of Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
and Governor
Governor of New Jersey
The Office of the Governor of New Jersey is the executive branch for the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of Governor is an elected position, for which elected officials serve four year terms. While individual politicians may serve as many terms as they can be elected to, Governors cannot be...
Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. Both Clark and Wilson had won a number of primaries, and Clark entered the convention with more pledged delegates than did Wilson. However, he lacked the two thirds vote necessary to secure the nomination.
Initially, the front runner appeared to be Clark, who received 440¼ votes on the first ballot to 324 for Wilson. Governor Judson Harmon
Judson Harmon
Judson Harmon was a Democratic politician from Ohio. He served as United States Attorney General under President Grover Cleveland and later served as the 45th Governor of Ohio....
of Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
received 148 votes while U.S. Representative Oscar W. Underwood of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, received 117¼ with the rest of the votes scattered among the other delegates. No candidate managed to gain a majority until the ninth ballot, when the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
delegation shifted its allegiance to Clark. Due to the then-official two-thirds rule used by the Democratic Party, Clark was never able to secure the nomination as he failed to get the necessary two-thirds vote for victory.
In past conventions, once a candidate received a majority of the votes, it would start a bandwagon rolling to the nomination. Clark's chances were hurt when Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society...
, the powerful and corrupt Democratic political machine in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, threw its support behind him. This was the move that gave Clark a majority on the ninth ballot, but instead of propelling Clark's bandwagon towards victory, the endorsement led William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
to turn against the Speaker of the House. A three-time Democratic presidential candidate and still the leader of the party's liberals, Bryan delivered a speech denouncing Clark as the candidate of "Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
".
Up until the Tammany endorsement, Bryan had remained neutral, but once the corrupt machine put itself behind Clark, he threw his support to New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson, who was regarded as a moderate reformer. Wilson had consistently finished second to Clark on each ballot, Ironically, Wilson had nearly given up hope that he could be nominated, and he was on the verge of having a concession speech read for him at the convention freeing his delegates to vote for someone else. Bryan's endorsement of Wilson influenced many other delegates, and Wilson gradually gained in strength while Clark's support dwindled. Wilson received the nomination on the 46th ballot.
The 46 ballots were the most cast at a convention since 1860.
Thomas R. Marshall
Thomas R. Marshall
Thomas Riley Marshall was an American Democratic politician who served as the 28th Vice President of the United States under Woodrow Wilson...
, the Governor of Indiana
Governor of Indiana
The Governor of Indiana is the chief executive of the state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term, and responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide...
, who had swung his state's delegate votes to Wilson in later ballots, was named as Wilson's running mate. Wilson and Marshall went on to win a landslide victory in the 1912 Presidential election
United States presidential election, 1912
The United States presidential election of 1912 was a rare four-way contest. Incumbent President William Howard Taft was renominated by the Republican Party with the support of its conservative wing. After former President Theodore Roosevelt failed to receive the Republican nomination, he called...
against a split Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
.
Candidates
| Vice Presidential Ballot | ||
| Ballot | 1st | 2nd |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas R. Marshall Thomas R. Marshall Thomas Riley Marshall was an American Democratic politician who served as the 28th Vice President of the United States under Woodrow Wilson... | 389 | 644.5 |
| John Burke | 304.67 | 386.33 |
| George E. Chamberlain | 157 | 12.5 |
| Elmore W. Hurst Elmore W. Hurst Elmore Wallace Hurst was a Democrat in the Illinois General Assembly in 1888 and again in 1898.-Biography:... | 78 | 0 |
| James H. Preston James H. Preston James Harry Preston was the Mayor of Baltimore from 1911-1919.-Biography:Preston was born in Harford County, Maryland in 1860. He served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1890-1894. He briefly served as Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates in 1894. Preston then served as the Mayor... | 58 | 0 |
| Martin J. Wade | 26 | 0 |
| William F. McCombs William McCombs William Frank McCombs was a lawyer who served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1912 through 1916.McCombs was born on December 26, 1876 in Hamburg, Arkansas. He graduated from Princeton University in 1898 and obtained an LL.B. from Harvard University in 1901... | 18 | 0 |
| John E. Osborne John Eugene Osborne John Eugene Osborne was an American physician, farmer, banker and Democratic politician. He was the third Governor of Wyoming after the Wyoming Territory attained statehood in 1890.... | 8 | 0 |
| William Sulzer William Sulzer William Sulzer was an American lawyer and politician, nicknamed Plain Bill Sulzer. He was the 39th Governor of New York and a long-serving congressman from the same state. He was the first and so far only New York Governor to be impeached... | 3 | 0 |
- PresidentialPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
nominee: Governor Woodrow WilsonWoodrow WilsonThomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
of New Jersey - Vice PresidentialVice President of the United StatesThe Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
nominee: GovernorGovernor of IndianaThe Governor of Indiana is the chief executive of the state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term, and responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide...
Thomas R. MarshallThomas R. MarshallThomas Riley Marshall was an American Democratic politician who served as the 28th Vice President of the United States under Woodrow Wilson...
of IndianaIndianaIndiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is... - Convention Chairman: Representative Ollie M. JamesOllie M. JamesOllie Murray James , a Democrat, represented Kentucky in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate.-Biography:...
of KentuckyKentuckyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth... - Temporary Chairman and Keynote Speaker: Former Chief Judge and 1904 Presidential nominee Alton B. ParkerAlton B. ParkerAlton Brooks Parker was an American lawyer, judge and the Democratic nominee for U.S. president in the 1904 elections.-Life:...
of New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
See also
- 1912 Republican National Convention1912 Republican National ConventionThe 1912 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States was held at the Chicago Coliseum, Chicago, Illinois, from June 18 to June 22, 1912. The party nominated William Howard Taft from Ohio for re-election as President of the United States and James S...
- United States presidential election, 1912United States presidential election, 1912The United States presidential election of 1912 was a rare four-way contest. Incumbent President William Howard Taft was renominated by the Republican Party with the support of its conservative wing. After former President Theodore Roosevelt failed to receive the Republican nomination, he called...
- Democratic National ConventionDemocratic National ConventionThe Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...